Dice, Camera, Action!: Deep Thoughts
by Wramysis
Summary: The perilous situations Chris Perkins created during and immediately following the chase for Paultin resulted in the Crew not having much time to react to or to digest what was really happening. I therefore elaborated on three of those scenes to see what might have actually been going through their heads at the time.
1. Chapter 1

A.N.: The chaos following the events at the yuan-ti temple sadly prohibited the Crew from having any lengthy discussion about the visions they had just seen or the implications of chasing after Paultin at the beginning of episode 82. So I decided to inject a little more discussion and rumination in between the lines of dialog we saw happen on camera.

* * *

Diath crumpled onto the ash-covered cobblestones of Omu as both icy-cold and sharp stabbing pain ripped through his skull. He spasmed as he fell, gasping for air in quick breaths, while the geas spell's magic sent electric shocks coursing down every nerve in his body.

"Diath!" Strix shouted in alarm, pushing her way past Evelyn to kneel down beside the rogue, who could barely remain conscious. The paladin reacted only a second later, crouching next to her friends and quickly scanning over his body for any obvious sign of injury.

"I'm...okay," he panted, although tears of pain were still welling in his eyes. Strix muttered something in_ planar cant_ that none of the rest of them understood, shaking her head at him disapprovingly. Then Diath felt the warmth of her healing magic course through him, and the pain at last subsided.

"Get Simon. Don't let him wander off," Diath urged them weakly. He heard Evelyn get up and call out to the puppet as she fluttered over the ruins.

"What happened to you?" Strix asked softly, wringing her hands as she shot nervous looks at their surroundings. "Was it Paultin?

"No, I don't think so," he groaned, still clutching his head as he rolled to the side and leaned up against one elbow.

He spotted Evelyn leading Simon by the hand as she quickly made her way back to them. "Are we ready to go?" she asked uncertainly. "Simon seems real eager to take us to his daddy."

Diath shook his head, then hissed as that triggered another wave of pain. "I can't...I can't go. You guys have to go find Paultin." Strix protested loudly, while Evelyn's mechanical eyes dilated in alarm. But he was insistent. "No, I'm saying _I_ _can't_. I know what I have to do, and if I don't do it, _I will die!_"

Strix rocked back on her heels in sudden realization. "The geas!" Exchanging a look with Evelyn, they both stared down at Diath in concern.

"It's fine, you go find Paultin without me. I'll stay here and try to find Mr. Fox."

The trash witch shrieked in protest. "No, we're not splitting the party! And anyways, geas spells can only hurt you once a day!"

Evelyn sighed in relief. "That's great! So we can just heal him up each day while we go find Paultin, and then come back for that fox guy's glasses!"

"...Or I could just remove it with a spell _right now_," Strix suggested uncertainly.

Diath understood her hesitation. They didn't know what Shemeshka might do in response to her removing the spell. A geas was a type of contract, and fiends took contracts very seriously.

"Better not to risk it," Diath advised.

"But then...what about Paultin?" Evelyn asked worriedly.

"Diath needs to rest first anyway, Evelyn," Strix admonished. "Why don't you and Miranda go scout ahead and see where Simon might be leading us. Just don't take too long, and don't get caught!"

Evelyn seemed to cheer up at the mention of her new friend, and the elf looked happy just to be given something useful to do. The four remaining vegepygmies accompanied the pair, forming a defensive perimeter around Miranda. Dragonbait settled Waffles and Eighteen in the shade, then nodded to Diath and motioned towards their surroundings to indicate that he was taking watch. Diath nodded back at him gratefully.

"Do you... do you think it's a good idea to go after Paultin?" asked Strix once the others were out of earshot. "I mean, I know he has one of Evelyn's rings, but if I share mine with you, we'll have more time-"

"I am not taking your ring, Strix," Diath protested, not letting her finish. "And anyway, we can't just abandon him when he might still be fighting the Ring of Winter's control. He sent us back the Sunsword after all, _and Simon_. I think a part of him wants us to find him."

"Yeah, _but which part_?" asked Strix with a raised eyebrow. "If the Ring is as evil as Miranda says it is, it could just be toying with us. It might want Paultin to kill us, just like the dark powers in Barovia made Strahd kill his brother. You remember what his Tome said."

Diath hadn't actually considered that possibility. But when he had agreed to take up the mantle of leader, he was given responsibility over all of them, including Paultin. The bard had always been difficult to read, but Diath had to assume that he _wanted_ to be saved. Yet was it right for him to put Strix and Evelyn in danger for it? Maybe if the geas only activated once a day, Diath still had time to catch up to Paultin while the others stayed behind somewhere safe. That way, if it turned out that Paultin was beyond saving, only Diath would have put his life in danger. And if he died, at least he wouldn't have to worry about the geas kicking in, or the Death Curse that was slowly killing him anyway.

"I know what you're thinking," Strix muttered angrily. "And no, I'm not letting you go out there alone on a suicide mission!"

"There's always a chance I can beat him," Diath said, though he knew he didn't sound very convincing.

Strix snorted. "We barely have a chance of beating him with all of us here put together, and that's counting Waffles, Miranda, and Dragonbait ...and whatever new pets we might pick up along the way," she added wryly. "I know we've all been put in the _dead-book_ a few times, and that Evelyn doesn't even think it that big a deal anymore, but I'd still rather not take the chance of us ending the multiverse or anything."

Diath snapped to attention at those words, and grabbed onto Strix's shoulders. "Where did you hear that? About the multiverse ending?"

Strix looked scared for a moment, as if she just realized what she had said. "I...uh...I don't know if it was real," she explained nervously, looking down at the ground. "Back at the snake place, I was talking to some guy named Ubtao, though I'm pretty sure he was a fake and not the actual _Power_. Anyways, he said my family, the Skizzikses, were fighting a people called the Lorcatha who were being helped by angels. I guess there was a big war and the multiverse almost ended, and both sides had to sign a treaty." Strix's gaze shot up to look at Diath. He knew that she was hoping for some kind of confirmation from him. Back at the temple, right after defeating Ras Nsi, she had asked if he was 'some kind of angel person'. But Diath's own mysterious vision in that dark place had not been as clear. There had been wings on his back, yes, but they had been clipped. The yaun-ti woman had also remarked that he carried an 'ancient soul'. Had a different version of Diath existed those many years ago? Shemeshka too, had made an offhanded remark about mortals nearly ending the multiverse twice already, while staring directly at him. It seemed like everyone else knew more about Diath's forgotten past than _he_ did.

The actual truth was that Diath didn't want to know. He was perfectly fine living the life he had now, having adventures and helping people alongside his friends. _Did that include Paultin?_ Contemplating this for only a moment, he was relieved and reassured to realize that yes, it did. The bard might be irresponsible and occasionally get on Diath's nerves, but he always meant well. He could be stubborn and selfish, but he also had moments of extreme openness and kindness, especially when he was around the puppet he had adopted as his son. It still bothered Diath how blind and insensitive he had been about Paultin's feelings when the first version of Simon had been destroyed. He now made an active effort to be more accepting of the frightening little puppet, and so far, his trust had not been betrayed. He hoped the same still applied to its 'father'.

As if on cue, he could see Simon's small frame waddling back towards them, with Evelyn waving emphatically from the air as she glided on her winged boots. She seemed to be smiling.

Diath finally met Strix's eyes, knowing that she had been patiently waiting all this time for an answer to the mystery regarding their two families. But he would have to disappoint her, as they had a more pressing issue on their hands. "Let's go find Paultin," he said firmly.

Despite her obvious disappointment, Strix nodded and placed a hand onto his forehead, speaking an incantation he had heard several times before. A strange crawling sensation spread over his skin.

"Strix, _what did you do?"_

"I removed your geas." Raising her voice and turning to look around at the bushes and ruins around them, she added, "We can still go look for the glasses!" Diath understood; Strix was expecting Shemeshka to be listening in.

"I don't know if that will work," he whispered nervously. "What if she finds some way to make it worse?"

Strix gave him a stubborn look, and in an uncharacteristically bold voice, told him, "Then I'll deal with it. I'm the one who removed the spell. We're friends Diath, this is what friends do for one another."

With a trepidatious sigh, he nodded. At least the pain in his head was gone.

Evelyn finally reached them, and cheerily announced that Simon had pointed out a large crypt in a nearby graveyard. Miranda had stayed behind with her vegepygmies to keep an eye out while Evelyn returned to fetch the rest of them.

They gathered Dragonbait and the pets, and headed towards the cemetery. Whatever happened next, at least they would all be together.


	2. Chapter 2

This is a second place in the chase after Paultin where I felt the story had been rushed, and could have benefited from a little more introspection on the parts of the characters. So again, this fic attempts to "fill in the blanks" with a little longer description and dialog than what was shown in episode 85, and references some of the feelings they later revealed themselves as having. When I wrote this, I actually had no idea that episode 86 would end the way it did, which made the last statement here all the more ironic. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Paultin looked out from the Inn's doorway, his attention on Izek as the brute raised his axe towards Diath, when a horrible sound started issuing from the room behind him. The bard turned and watched in amazement as Strix's body rose out from a dark portal in the floor, clutching a strange stone statue. The two former colleagues locked gazes for a moment, before Strix immediately dropped the statue and fumbled frantically with a strange device in her hand. Just as Paultin said, "Now hold on a minute-" the room tilted as a sense of vertigo overcame him.

His vision quickly returned to normal, but he took no chances and reached out to steady himself against a nearby chair. _Something was still off_. The first thing that struck him was that the voice in his head-_that other voice, not the familiar one that had been with him all his life_-was now gone. He also noticed that the blue glow that had grown at the edges of his vision was beginning to fade.

With the cloud now gone from his mind, he looked down at Strix in surprise, relieved to see that she was alive. He remembered seeing blood gushing out from the wounds in her back where the assassins had stabbed her. He had panicked in that moment, but the Ring's calm voice soothed him, convincing him with its honeyed words that his friends' sacrifice was necessary. The plan to collect their blood in the Chalice and drink from it-a thought that now totally disgusted him-had made perfect sense under the Ring's thrall.

He expected Strix to be terrified standing this close to him after all that he had done, but instead, he saw angry determination in her eyes. Her hands were mere inches away from his, wielding a pair of iron scissors. Paultin drew back in fear, and was relieved to see that all of his fingers were still intact. But then...where was the Ring?

"What did you do?!" he demanded, perhaps more strongly than he should have. But before she could answer, an unseen force yanked her away from him and tossed her out of the tavern. He looked around for what might have done it-_the dusk elf assassins?_ Now that he no longer wore the Ring, he had lost his connection to the snow outside, and could no longer feel them walking through it. Had _they_ taken it? With a groan, he realized that they also now carried the terrifying doll of Strahd that Strix had foolishly carried into the inn with her. How had she managed to bring it back, and why?

The sound of support beams creaking alerted Paultin to the fact that the tavern was in bad shape. The flames that Evelyn had started in the doorway had spread to the roof. He could hear Strix shouting outside and banging at the stick wards that guarded the tavern. They were powerful dark magic, and Paultin could understand why they would upset her. Now free of the Ring, he could feel the wards begin to affect him, too. As he noted Strix throwing more fireballs, he decided it was a good time to leave.

Throwing one last glance at the Inn that had been his home for so long, he spotted the Chalice on a table where he had last left it. He wanted nothing more to do with the cursed object, but he couldn't just leave it around for someone to find. He guiltily poured out the few drops of Strix's blood that he had managed to capture, then hid the goblet under his cloak. The Chalice brought to mind the Hand that it was linked to, and he sent a mental summons for it to return to him. With a loud sigh, he also grabbed the bottle of ale that the elves had left on the counter to celebrate their expected victory.

The inn's dark wards were beginning to reject him, but Paultin realized that he wasn't ready to face his friends just yet-assuming they still considered themselves his friends. Maybe he deserved to burn and be buried along with the rest of the wretched building. He sank into one of the crooked wooden chairs and stared sadly out the open doorway, wondering if anyone would bother checking in on him again.

* * *

Where only moments before there had raged a fierce battle between animated ice men, a frenzied demonic brute, and what remained of the dying band of heroes who affectionately called themselves the "Waffle Crew", now there was only the peaceful fall of snowflakes upon the smoldering wreckage of the tavern. The ice soldiers had become statues once more, and the iron crown of madness had disappeared from Izek's brow.

Evelyn watched expectantly as Paultin finally stepped out from the remnants of the collapsed building. His eyes no longer glowed as they had when he had spoken to her from the shadows of that haunted doorway, although the dark tint of his hair was still there. She approached him cautiously, her eyes darting to his fingers for confirmation that the evil Ring was gone. Her ability to detect evil-_the only real sense she had left in this artificial body!_-no longer tingled in alarm. Awed by how much his appearance had changed in the month since she had last seen him, Evelyn reflexively reached out to touch one of his raven-black locks. She tried meeting his eyes, now back to their natural pale blue, but he kept them averted. Trying to sound reassuring, she smiled up at him and said, "It looks good on you."

Without acknowledging her words, he drew a long swig from a bottle of ale he must have taken from the tavern. She backed away in disappointment, then braced herself as he suddenly raised the bottle and smashed it against the face of one of his ice statues.

_Something must have happened after Strix went_ _inside_, she reasoned. Evelyn had seen the tiefling get thrown out of the tavern only moments before, with Diath then rushing towards her. There had also been another person with them... _Miranda?_ But when Evelyn tried to recall the face of the friendly druid, her memory failed her.

Strix was now running back towards the wreckage with Diath close behind, still holding onto Simon after Evelyn had passed her son to him. Could Miranda still be trapped inside? She prepared to run back to help, but Strix stopped tossing beams aside as she finally uncovered a strange statue with a broken arm.

"We need to get that Ring back," Paultin said, drawing Evelyn's attention back to him.

"Now Paultin-" she began, wondering how she was going to talk him out of searching for it, wherever it might have gone. Letting him have the Ring had obviously been a mistake; an act she should have known better than to allow. Did Lathander think less of her now for not having worked harder to take it away from Paultin? Yet she had seen how happy its magic made him, and there were so few moments lately when she had seen Paultin smile. But Evelyn could not deny that her selfish choice to ignore justice simply for approval from someone she admired, had unfortunately resulted in the death of innocents. She cringed as she spotted the form of Lord Niall lying in the snow. No, the Ring's evil could not be allowed to persist. She would have to convince Paultin-

"We need to fuckin' _destroy_ _it_," Paultin growled, swiping the air with the jagged neck of the broken bottle.

Eyelyn would have breathed a sigh of relief,_ if she still could breathe._

* * *

Though the battle was short-lived, Diath could feel his legs trembling, barely keeping him upright. The cold of Paultin's snowscape, in addition to the constant ache he felt in his bones as the Death Curse drained his lifeforce, were almost too much to bear. But Diath grit his teeth and straightened his back, refusing to show weakness in front of the others. They needed him to be strong; a confident leader who could guide them out of this horrible realm. If he let on about his condition, they would begin to doubt him. None of them could afford that right now.

Paultin glanced in his direction, and from the discerning crease in his brow, Diath knew that the bard had seen through his act. Diath sighed and looked down at Simon, still clutching his hand. Ever since Paultin had disappeared into the Shadowfell, Diath had looked after the bard's 'son'. It had been difficult to ignore his instincts and better judgement, and allow the dangerous creature to tag along. Diath had to keep reminding himself that this Simon wasn't the same as the one they had known before. This puppet had been freshly painted when they found it wrapped in the box in Strahd's chambers, and although it had shot at Tatyana as it had been programmed to do, it hadn't actually tried to murder anyone since. _Yet._

"C'mon Simon, let's go see your dad."

The snow bank was deep, and Diath had to lift the little puppet up so that it wasn't buried. When they were close enough, Simon broke free from Diath's grasp and rushed toward its father, wrapping its little arms around his legs. Paultin seemed unsure how to react for several moments, then gingerly patted Simon on the head.

"I kept him safe for you," Diath said with a shrug, not really expecting any words of thanks from Paultin. He turned to walk back towards Strix, but Paultin called back to him.

"Hey man. Sorry I sicced Izek on you. It looks like you took quite a beating."

Diath snorted in wry amusement, but it turned into a wheeze as the breath caught in his chest. Paultin actually looked concerned, but Diath waved him off. "It's fine. Evelyn took care of that brute."

Paultin nodded, then pulled off the _ring of protection_ Diath had previously loaned him and tossed it back. Diath grabbed it in midair and quickly slipped it on, sighing in relief as his soul became shielded from the Death Curse's dark pull. He was still weak and cold, but the world already looked somewhat less bleak. The haze he had felt in his mind since arriving in the Shadowfell was still there, however.

"Diath, did you see Miranda?" Evelyn asked him.

He felt a jolt of fear and began desperately looking from side to side, until he realized that he didn't know what he was looking for. "Miranda?" Diath repeated uncertainly, shaking his head as if to clear it.

"Miranda...she must have the Ring!" Paultin cried in sudden realization. He immediately began casting a_ locate person_ spell. After a moment of concentration, his expression darkened and he announced, "She isn't here. The spell can't find her."

Diath noticed tracks in the snow that didn't belong to anyone in his party. He followed them to the road, where he noticed the corpses of Izek's two guards and the wheel ruts of Izek's Vistani wagon, which had disappeared.

"It's okay, we'll find them," Diath said reassuringly to the others. He chose not to bring up the concern that he might not survive any further delay to finding a way home and breaking the Curse. His own life could be sacrificed if it meant that Strix and the others would be safe. And once Diath was gone, they would no longer have to alternate wearing the rings, freeing Strix and Paultin from the effects of the Curse all together. Surely the others could be trusted to watch over Strix for him when he was gone.

* * *

Strix was so annoyed that she felt ready to burst into flames. _How dare that drow sell her a defective watch?_ And what business did Miranda have of butting in when Strix already had things under control? Sure, Paultin ended up keeping his finger, _but things could have turned out far worse!_ In fact, maybe they _were_ worse, because now not only did none of them know what happened to the Ring, _but Mr. Shambleface was gone too!_

She heard the clang of metal weapons striking one another as Izek continued to swing at Evelyn even without the crown of madness. Evelyn seemed to be holding back, using the Heart of Spinelli to block Izek's axe rather than press her own attack. The noise only added to Strix's pent up frustration, and she shouted the incantation for _polymorph_ and turned her brother into a chicken.

Evelyn looked somewhat disappointed as Strix stormed up to them and plucked the bird out of the snow. _"You behave!"_ she shouted at him, shaking Izek for good measure.

"What's that you're carrying?" Evelyn asked, and it took Strix a moment to realize that she was still holding on to the stone arm of Samite the duergar.

"Oh, uh, nothing," Strix said sheepishly, dropping it back into the snow. _She couldn't revive the poor dwarf without his arm!_ She'd have to come back and fix him later, after she learned a mending spell. He was bound to be safe as a statue in the meantime.

Diath informed them that instead of their own wagon, Miranda had left them a wagon driven by an ogre zombie. Strix looked at the ugly creature with initial distaste, but then realized that this was her chance to make up for poor Samite. This was a creature she could actually help! She unfastened a blanket that made up part of her robes, and laid it over the poor creature, which looked almost purple with cold.

"Your name is Hookie, and you're our pet now!" she announced with satisfaction. The ogre did not even blink in acknowledgement. She pretended not to mind, and occupied herself with securing chicken-Izek to the front of the wagon with her.

"You're driving?" Paultin asked, wobbling unsteadily.

"Unless _you_ want to," Strix said, remembering that Paultin had been the one to take them out of Barovia. But Strix's arcane senses told her that his Vistani heritage likely wouldn't work that way in the Shadowfell. What they needed was a portal, and in the Shadowfell, those would only appear where there was a concentration of death. Suddenly she had an idea, and fished for a small object from her robes. Meanwhile, everyone else had climbed into the coach, with Paultin hanging his head out of the window and looking very green.

"Hey Hookie, smell this," Strix suggested, waving a mummified raven's foot under its nose. "Now, take us to a place that smells a lot like this. Like death."

With a loud snort, the ogre suddenly came awake. Paultin shouted a command to it in a strange language, which Strix mimicked as best she could, and the wagon began to move. Waffles hooted happily as she ran alongside them. Strix looked over her shoulder at the disappearing wreckage of the tavern, and despite the sounds of Paultin being ill in the back, she felt happier than she had in a long while. _They were finally leaving the Shadowfell!_

Paultin might have wanted to go after the Ring, but Strix knew it was more important that they get back to Chult and stop the Death Curse and complete their deal with Shemeshka. Strix had noticed how weak Diath had gotten, and she would not let anything else happen to her friend. They had been through so much to get Paultin back, and amazingly, all of them had come out of it alive.

Despite the dread creeping at the corners of her thoughts, Strix felt that finally, things were looking up!


	3. Chapter 3

A.N.: This part covers what happened in the aftermath of Evelyn and Simon being resurrected, as a lot was going through the players' heads at the time, never mind the chaos that followed as they tried to leave Chult!

* * *

With their paladin resurrected and among them once again (as well as Simon, who she grudgingly admitted a small part of her had missed), Strix allowed herself to finally let down her guard just a little. The Crew were spending the evening relaxing in the lavish parlor of a guest house of the merchant princes of Port Nyanzaru, an arrangement she still wasn't sure how Omin Dran had managed to pull off. She laughed gently with the others at Evelyn's wide-eyed and indignant reactions upon learning what the rest of them had been through after her construct form had been crushed by the balhannoth.

Strix glanced curiously at Evelyn's restored flesh body. The paladin had been quick to find new clothing to replace the tattered rags that had clung to her old set of armor. The golden breastplate, greaves and arm guards had in fact returned in a more pristine state than Strix last remembered-probably a parting gift from Lathander, who according to Evelyn, was all about beauty and goodness. Strix took a sheepish look at her own dirty rags and buried herself a little deeper into the sofa cushions.

"Thanks again for bringing us back," said Evelyn, playfully bouncing Simon on her knee. Strix watched the puppet nervously, worried that a sudden jostle might loosen one of his darts.

"Thank you for taking care of the death curse, Evelyn," said Diath, reflexively rubbing at the scar around his neck. "Tomorrow I'll find that agent who talked to us when we first got to Chult, and show him the maps I made." He tapped at the parchments where he had been taking careful notes throughout their journey. "He promised us a ship, remember?"

Strix's heart raced in excitement. They were finally going to leave Chult! _I've had more than my fill of this crazy snake-infested, undead-ravaged hell-hole!_

From that point on, Strix's mind was filled with daydreams of sailing out to sea, somewhere isolated where no enemies could come after them. That feeling was further reinforced the next morning, when they realized just in time that the food Strix had prepared for their breakfast was poisoned.

"I want to_ leave!_" Strix told the others insistently. Everyone nodded nervously except Evelyn, whose thoughts seemed focused elsewhere.

* * *

Evelyn's mind was flooded with emotions and forgotten sensations. The sunlight on her skin felt delightful, as did the scents from the market as they searched for Diath's contact. But when the agent pointed to the boat and the captain that would take them to Waterdeep, the reality that they were heading back to her homeland suddenly hit her. Evelyn desperately began thinking up excuses to make them stay.

_"We could still go to Nangalore!"_ Evelyn reminded them, after Diath was forced to apologize to the agent for having forgotten to include the lost city's location on their map. Unfortunately, the others didn't seem as pleased by the idea. When Diath gave her a curious look, Evelyn blushed and added, "There's no reason we can't stay here a _little_ longer. After all, Strix is a famous dinosaur racer, and we haven't even finished Paultin's tour!"

"Thank you," Diath told the agent, then shook the gnome captain's hand, sealing the deal. Evelyn sighed in resignation as she watched Strix run eagerly to a nearby market stall with the last of Paultin's coins in order to buy supplies for their voyage.

"DidLerekTellYouAboutTheTributeYouHaveToPayToAremagTheDragonTurtle?" asked the short female captain in a rush. Evelyn brightened as she realized that their group probably didn't have any more money, but she went ahead and searched through her bags as the others were doing, and pulled out the few shiny baubles she had pilfered from the yakfolk.

"How about this disk?" Paultin asked, pulling out a silver object. The gnome's face blanched, and Paultin reacted quickly to cast a spell of deception to convince her that it wasn't whatever horrible thing she assumed it to be. The befuddled gnome explained that the disks were markers used by the Ytepka Society as a warning to troublemakers in the city. Paultin then very discretely dropped it over the pier when she wasn't looking.

Evelyn hoped that marked the end of their plan-_after all, how were they going to get past a dragon turtle?_ But she had forgotten about their bomb.

Strix had quickly returned from her shopping, and now motioned them all into a huddle. "Look, we throw the bomb in, we take the key out, it's activated- the dragon has a bigger problem than we do, _and we leave!_ This is a fast ship, right?"

_Would that work?_ Evelyn wondered, glancing at the others worriedly. But to Evelyn's relief, Diath seemed to have found another reason to stall their trip.

"Hear me out. What if we actually solved this business before we leave? Whatever this Society has against us, clearly there was a mistake. It could be safer for us if _for once,_ we don't run."

They pondered his words for a moment, remembering the many times they had fled from their problems rather than face them. Strix looked particularly abashed. But Paultin, who even Evelyn recognized as having a selfish streak that placed his survival over all other concerns, could only stare at Diath in disbelief.

"We're talking about the people who poisoned our food, right? _And you're think they just want to talk?_"

The gnome captain seemed to sense the mounting tension, and called out to them, "We have time for you to go visit the bathhouse in the city if you like. Warm, perfume-scented waters-they're very cheap!"

Evelyn clapped her hands delightedly. "I want a bath!" But to her dismay, no one else seemed excited to join her. "Or...we could enter another dinosaur race," she suggested meekly.

"Yeah, thats good. Let's bring more attention to ourselves," Paultin growled, digging through Strix's newly purchased supplies to find a flask of wine, before he cast _invisibility_ on himself. "_Ok fine_, I'm ready. Whatever you guys want to do."

Although Diath was not opposed to Evelyn getting her bath, it meant that she was left on her own while the others investigated the Ytepka Society. "_What better place to ask around than the bath house?"_ she muttered despondently, still sad that no one wanted to spend time with her after she had only _just_ returned from being dead. She did take her own advice, however, and tried to inject the Ytepka Society into the gossip being shared around the bathhouse. Nothing anyone told her, however, hinted at any malicious intentions they might have towards her group.

As she soaked in the warm water, she composed a letter to Omin Dran for having saved her life, grateful that at least _someone_ seemed to care about her. She called over an attendant and handed them the envelope to be mailed. Just as she was about to climb out of the pool, she felt someone rise out of the water behind her and yank a thin rope against her throat. She grabbed the quill pen she had been writing with and tried reaching behind her to jab her attacker. Unfortunately, she still wasn't back to her full strength after her resurrection, and struggled harder than she should have needed to. As her vision darkened, she could hear the splash of someone else entering the water, and she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her back. And then... nothingness.

* * *

Paultin was mildly surprised that Diath had managed to get the answers they needed, and that the Crew's reputation was now cleared with the cool-looking dragon-man that watched over the town. But that still begged the question of who had been trying to kill them, if it wasn't the Ytepka Society. Paultin had not forgotten that his clone was still out there, but despite the guy having almost managed to cast _crown of madness_ on Strix, he hadn't seemed all that threatening, preferring to watch the fight rather than join it. If Paultin were in his shoes, he would have counted his blessings and left town, not stay behind to cause more trouble.

He vaguely remembered that there was also a group called the Zhentarim who had been after the Ring and had dared try to kidnap Simon. Paultin could still feel an icy tingle on his finger where it had once rested. But the Ring was gone now, so those guys no longer had any reason to come after him and his friends.

_Friends_... It had taken him a long time to admit that his companions meant more to him than just people to keep him company. The Ring had convinced Paultin to leave Omu and cross into the Shadowfell, leaving behind Simon because it knew that his son would lead the others back to him. And yet a part of Paultin at the time-the part that was still _him_-had worried that maybe the others wouldn't care enough to follow him there. When it turned out that they had come all that way to bring him home, there had been a rare unselfish moment when he had wished they had saved themselves, instead. Yet by then the Ring had full control, and Paultin had to watch helplessly as it nearly killed them. At least now, the dark fate the Raven Queen had chosen for him was gone, and they had all managed to escape the Shadowfell.

Well, _most of them_.

He patted Simon on the head, grateful to still have the opportunity to do so. His son looked up at him with his usual joyful smile. _Evelyn, however_... _She was always so_..._and he wasn't sure how he_... It was all too damn complicated.

They reached the bathhouse to meet up with Evelyn, but were blocked by a frenzied crowd that instantly put all of them on high alert. From what they could overhear, assassins had attacked someone inside, and guards were preventing anyone from going in.

"Strix! Paultin!" Diath called to them, motioning that they break through the barrier. But by then Paultin had already cast _invisibility_ and was making his way inside. He found Evelyn in a lounge chair, being bandaged and examined by the local priests. Due to her partially undressed state, he tried to avoid looking directly at her, but could not avoid the sight of her left leg, which seemed to end shortly below the knee. Quickly shaking off his surprise, he circled behind her and whispered in her ear, "Hey, _don't panic_, _calm down_, I'm here. I don't think I'm supposed to be? _I've been chivalrous!_ I have not been looking _so that's not an issue_." He realized that _now_ was not the time to mention the missing foot. "When you can, get out of here, we're all outside." Feeling very uncomfortable, he quickly fled the room, then found himself running into gas clouds shaped like Diath and Strix.

"Guys, she's fine, she'll be out soon. Get out of here," he whispered, unnerved at the sight of the guards closely trailing the gas clouds.

Luckily, Evelyn vouched for her friends when she was finally permitted to rejoin them outside, and the guards left. Diath apologized for having left her by herself, and Strix actually gave her a hug. They reassured Evelyn that she was indeed important to them, even if the information she had gathered at the bathhouse wasn't anything they hadn't already learned. Paultin himself was still in shock at how close they had come to losing Evelyn again. Unable to find the right words to say to her, he instead insisted that the group all board the ship as quickly as possible.

As they left the harbor, Paultin realized that they still hadn't figured out what to give as their tribute. Although everyone seemed to think that giving the dragon-turtle the bomb was the best solution, at least in theory, Diath was unwilling to lose one of his keys in the process. Paultin could not believe that their leader-who was usually the most pragmatic among them-preferred to pull the key out and risk the bomb going off prematurely.

Evelyn seemed to agree with Paultin, yet Diath was the one holding the bomb, and seemed determined to go through with his crazy plan. Strix offered to carry the bomb on her broom and fly out to the dragon to keep the rest of them safe, and again Paultin was surprised at how the thought of Strix sacrificing herself affected him. He no longer thought about only saving himself; he realized that all of their lives now mattered to him.

Suddenly the waters churned and sputtered, revealing a massive armored shell and a horned reptilian head as big as the ship itself. As the others continued to argue, the creature's voice boomed, "Dump it!"

Paultin looked down at his magical mandolin-the instrument he had stolen from the Vistani bard back at Ravenloft who had resembled him so much. That man was the only person Paultin had ever felt any possible familial tie to. Yet that had been in a distant land and a different era, and Paultin's few memories of that place had been filled with tragedy and fear. He didn't want anything more to do with that life. If keeping safe the family he had built here meant giving up the ties to his old family, then it would be worth it.

Paultin tossed his magic mandolin into the sea.

* * *

Diath helplessly watched the chaos unfold as Evelyn tried unsuccessfully to negotiate with the dragon-turtle and almost lost the _Holy Symbol of Ravenkind_ in the process. Strix further angered the beast by using _mage hand_ to lift Paultin's mandolin out of the water. Paultin yelled at all of them to stop taking things away from the turtle, then made his own attempt to appease the monster and try to explain that Strix had only wanted to polish the instrument for it first. But none of their efforts seemed to be working.

Captain Ortimay began tossing her own tribute overboard. Evelyn was looking for more items, and Paultin threw up his hands at their stupidity and sardonically suggested that they toss in Waffles next.

Diath forcibly shook off his paralysis and cried out to them. "Guys,_ stop giving away pieces of yourselves!_ You can't...you can't do that."

As Paultin turned to glare at him, Diath nodded in acknowledgement of the sacrifice the bard had already made. "Okay Paultin, I think you're right. We can give him the bomb with the key." As much as Diath dreaded losing those precious items entrusted to him, the lives of his friends were far more important. He was ashamed that it had taken so long for him to remember that fact, yet his fear of Shemeshka was difficult to ignore. What did it actually mean whenever Diath handed her a key? What were her real intentions, and how would she react when she learned that Strix had broken her geas? How powerful did she risk becoming with Mr. Fox's items? What would she ask Diath to do when she inevitably decided to call in her open favor? Yet what was the point in saving his keys if he and his friends were all about to perish anyway? Diath just had to hope that Shemeshka didn't find a way to swoop in at the last moment and steal the key.

"Oh sure, now that I've already given him my mandolin, _now_ you're okay with the bomb," Paultin grumbled.

"The bomb's too dangerous to keep on us," Diath reasoned. "The slightest jostle could set it off. At least this way, we won't have to worry about it any more."

At those words, the pair were amazed to see the key mysteriously pop itself out of the bomb's timer and fling itself into the water. Paultin's clone instantly became visible, and it grinned at them and folded its arms in satisfaction.

The bomb resumed its countdown, and the rogue sprang into action. As fast as he could manage, Diath grabbed another key off his ring and jammed it into the bomb. The ticking stopped, and they breathed a sigh of relief-except for the clone, who began asking, "Just how many of those do you hav-" just as Diath kicked it over the railing.

To his dismay, he saw Evelyn dive in after it, and Paultin had to shout at her to stop, and that it was actually his evil clone. Diath saw the clone reach out and grab Paultin's mandolin, just as Evelyn managed to throw both into the turtle's maw. Diath's eyes, however, were on the key he had tossed, slowly sinking into the water.

Diath overheard Paultin shouting, "There, we've given you everything! Can you _please_ just grant us passage?"

Aremag rumbled in pleasure and announced, _"As you were,"_ before it too, sank beneath the waves.

But Diath hadn't realized that Strix had followed his sorrowful gaze until her saw her dive overboard. "Strix!" he shouted frantically. Paultin and Evelyn came up beside him, and Paultin covered his eyes in disbelief. It seemed at first that the dragon-turtle might not have noticed Strix. However, a large wave suddenly rocked the ship, signaling activity down below them. A dimension door opened alongside the hull and Strix came sputtering out, clutching the key triumphantly. Evelyn dove down with her winged boots and pulled Strix back onto the deck.

Diath knelt down beside her, concerned that she might be wounded-though it was hard to tell if the rips and stains in her robes had already been there previously. She pushed away his attempts to examine her and thrust the key into his hand.

Paultin shook his head in disbelief. "You_ took something_ from him?"

This was answered a moment later when the giant turtle clamped its beak onto the hull and began dragging the ship down. Strix locked eyes with Diath.

"_Do it!_ I'll cast a mage hand and grab the key."

Diath nodded, trusting Strix fully. After giving Paultin a look of apology for not having listened to him earlier, Diath aimed for the creature's mouth and tossed in the bomb, shouting, "Fine,_ this_ is our greatest treasure!" The bomb landed squarely into its maw, just as the mage hand whisked out the key. Aremag appeared not to have noticed, letting go of the ship and diving back down under the water.

"Go!" Diath shouted at the captain, who needed no further urging. A strong wind had picked up, filling the sails so that they zipped along the surface of the ocean. Diath turned to see dark clouds massing outside the strait, and in that moment, a bright flash of light appeared from the direction of the port. As the sound of the explosion deafened them, the ship was lifted almost completely out of the water by a massive wave, which continued to carry them nearly a half a mile into open water.

Everyone gathered at the stern of the vessel to observe the devastation in their wake. The trees atop the cliffs enclosing the bay were completely incinerated. The statue at the harbor entrance had toppled over, and debris could be seen floating everywhere, including body parts that might once have belonged to a dragon-turtle. The port itself was too far out of view.

"Can anyone see? Everyone back there's okay, right? Everything's okay?" asked Diath urgently.

The crew said nothing, but Diath imagined he could feel the weight of their judging gazes. He sank back against the railing and covered his face with his hands.


End file.
